NTPC Limited – the largest power producer in the country with an installed capacity of over 36,000 MW has announced their intent to push through into the renewable energy segment with a 5 MW solar PV plant set to be comissioned close to the Port Blair airport in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The plant is slated to cost about Rs. 57 crores with Photon Energy being chosen to implement the project. This comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the company is targeting to install about 1000 MW of renewable energy capacityby 2017. The firm currently operates has about 1300 MW of large scale hydro projects under development.

This is only a start, the company has targeted to expand their renewable energy portfolio across all major regions in the country with other announcements stipulating that they would be installing wind energy farms in Karnataka in addition to several solar power generation projects in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The announced capacity additions include – 25 MW solar photovoltaic power plant at Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh of which work on 5 MW is scheduled to be started immediately. NTPC also announced that they would be setting up wind farms at Idduki and Palakkad in Kerala – a state with significant potential for wind energy, but project developments in the state are often hindered because of various political agendas.

These announcements bode well for the Indian renewable energy industry. It should provide significant impetus to other developers to start setting up more renewable energy projects considering the fact that the largest thermal power producer in the country intends to shift to a more greener source of energy. Further, the choices of location for the various renewable energy projects should highlight to developers that there are many locations across the country with huge renewable energy potential aside from the tried and tested states – wherein the prime locations are under heavy contention or close to exhaustion.

Energy Alternatives India (EAI) was founded by IIT and IIM alumni to accelerate the adoption of Renewable Energy and Cleantech in India through expert consultancy services, critical business intelligence, and in-depth research. Our reports and solutions are highly sought after by policy makers, large and small industries, and growth-seeking renewable energy companies. Read more about our work and our clients.